A downhole environment, such as, for example, an oil or gas well in an oilfield or undersea environment, a geothermal borehole, a carbon dioxide sequestration hole, and other such downhole environments, subjects equipment used in these environments to severe conditions of temperature, pressure, or corrosiveness. Further, equipment used in these environments can be located thousands of feet from the surface posing recovery issues of the equipment. A particular issue concerning fluid production from a downhole environment is that fluids within a formation contain a combination of components, some of which are desired for production while others are not. Yet another concern for fluid production is intrusion of particulate matter, for example, rock debris and sand, into the borehole from the formation. Particle production can result in premature failure of downhole and surface equipment. Moreover, particles, e.g., sand can build up in production tubing and obstruct bore flow. Additionally, production of undesired fluids or particles can be problematic to handle and dispose of at the surface.
Sandscreens have been used downhole to filter particles from fluids with varying success. However, the filtration medium in many sandscreens is a metallic mesh or screen that operates based on particle size exclusion and therefore removes some particulates, but not all particulate matter. Consequently, alternative materials and constructions for downhole filters would be well-received in the art.